1 2025:CGHC:1030 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 7479 of 2024 Order reserved on 19/11/2024 Order delivered on 07/01/2025 Suraj Chokhani S/o Ramesh Kumar Chokhani Aged About 44 Years R/o House No. 430, Ae Block, Sector-I, Salt Lake, District Kolkata, West Bengal, 700064. --- Currently In Judicial Custody At Raipur Central Jail). ... Applicant versus Directorate Of Enforcement Through Assistant Director, Government Of India Represented By Its Assistant Director, Mukesh Kumar, Raipur Zonal Office, A-1 Block 2nd Floor Pujari Chambers Pachpedi Naka, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. ... Respondent (Cause title taken from Case Information System) For Applicant : Mr. Sourav Chatterjee, Mr. Soumya Nag, Ms. Joveria Sabbah, Mr. Mohit Kumar, Mr. Ajay Kumar and Ms. Monika Singh, Advocates For Respondent/ED : Dr. Saurabh Kumar Pande, Advocate Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravind ra Kumar Agrawal C.A.V. Order 1. This is the first bail application filed by the applicant under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, who has been arrested on 03.03.2024 for the offence under Sections 3 and 4 of Digitally signed by VEDPRAKASH DEWANGAN 2 Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (in short ‘PMLA-2002’), registered at Enforcement Directorate, Raipur (in short ‘ED’) as the Crime No. ECIR/RPZO/10/2022. 2. The brief facts of the case are that an FIR of Crime No 112/2022 registered on 29.07.2022 at Police Station Mohan Nagar, Durg (C.G.) under Section 4A of the Public Gambling (C.G Amendment) Act, 1976, which was registered against five accused persons, namely, Alok Singh Rajput, Rampravesh Sahu, Kharag @ Raja Singh, Abhishek and Pintu, under Section 4A of the Public Gambling (C.G. Amendment) Act, 1976 and Section 420, 1208 of the IPC and also for Section 66D of Information Technology Act, 2000. The Enforcement Directorate had registered the Enforcement Case Information Report (hereinafter referred as 'ECIR') No. RP20/10/2022. On the secret information gathered by the officers of the ED, the raid was conducted on the premises of the accused persons in which it was found that a set with a laptop and they were collecting money by creating online IDs and through the said IDs they were placing bets for others through Mahadev Book, on Online cricket matches, horse racing, greyhound racing, kabaddi etc. Upon interrogation, the accused persons disclosed the names of two persons namely Abhishek and Pintu who taught them to procedure of creating the IDs and placing bets in various sports through the Mahadev Book. Initially, treating the FIR No. 112/2022 of P.S. Mohan Nagar, Durg and final report dated 29.07.2022 as scheduled/predicate offence, the respondent ED registered the ECIR No. RPZO/09/2022 which 3 was renumbered as ECIR No. RPZ0/10/2022 vide corrigendum dated 07.11.2022 issued by the ED. *******In the said ECIR, FIR No. 206/2023 dated 02.06.2023 registered at P.S. Cyber Crime Vishakhapattanam Commissionerate, Andhra Pradesh, FIR No. 37/2023 registered at P.S. Bhilai Bhatti, District Durg (C.G.), FIR No. 86/2023 dated 27.02.2023 registered at P.S. Chhawani, District Durg (C.G.), FIR No. 336/2023 dated 10.08.2023 registered at P.S. Gudhiyari, District Raipur (C.G.), FIR No. 685/2023 dated 11.08.2023 registered at P.S. Khamtarai, District Raipur (C.G.), FIR No. 6/2024 dated 04.03.2024 registered at EOW, Raipur (C.G.) and FIR No. 206/2020 dated 24.09.2020 registered at P.S. Burtola, Kolkata, West Bengal, have been included in the said ECIR. *******On 20.10.2023, the ED has filed its first prosecution complaint against 14 accused persons, alleging that the online gambling app in the name of Mahadev Online Book is established for illegal betting in different live games like; poker, card games, chance games, betting on cricket, badminton, tennis, football, etc. and also to provide facility for playing a number of card games like; teen patti, dragon tiger, virtual cricket games using cards, etc. It is also alleged that the Mahadev Online Book advertised about these betting websites through closed WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages. *******On 01.01.2024, the ED has filed its first supplementary complaint under Section 45 of PMLA against 5 additional accused persons for commission of the offence under Sections 3 and 4 of 4 PMLA-2002. On 19.01.2024, the learned Special Court has taken cognizance of the offence mentioned in the main prosecution complaint as well as the first supplementary complaint and summoned the accused persons. ******On 28.02.2024, at about 6:50 AM, the ED conducted search and seizure proceedings in the residential premises of the applicant at AE Block, Sector-1, Salt Lake, Kolkata in the presence of the applicant. The search was continued till 4:50 AM on 29.02.2024 i.e. almost about 24 hours and various Panchnamas were prepared during the search. The said Panchnamas were also signed by the present applicant. *******On 01.03.2024, at 7:00 AM, the applicant was taken to the ED office and was interrogated and thereafter he was sent back to the Ivy Hotel in his room. Again on 02.03.2024, he was taken to the ED office at Raipur and again interrogated and again sent to the hotel. On 03.03.2024, the applicant was formally arrested and was produced before the Learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, who was the Remand Duty Magistrate and the ED sought custody of the applicant for further investigation. *******During the interrogation, it was gathered that Mr. Sourabh Chandrakar and Mr. Harishankar Tibrewal were co-owners of Sky Exchange betting website and Mr. Harishankar Tibrewal had laundered the proceeds of crime in multiple companies operating 5 both in India and outside India. The operations of the Indian companies were managed by the present applicant. The companies under his control were employed by Harishankar Tibrewal to launder the proceeds of crime under the guise of Share Investments. *******The present applicant had full knowledge of the proceeds of crime and had participated in money laundering. Such companies are Ability Games Pvt. Ltd., Brilliant Investment Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Discovery Buildcon Pvt. Ltd., Forest Wincom Pvt. Ltd., Swarnbhumi Vanijya Pvt. Ltd., Dream Achievers Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., Ability Smart Tech Pvt. Ltd. and Ability Ventures Pvt. Ltd. The inquiry further revealed the cash transaction with the above referred companies and the above companies had converted the cash to bank entries using services of professional entry operators. From the statement of one Amit Saraogi recorded under Section 50 of PMLA-2002, in which he disclosed that he has the company named M/s. Pearl Dealers Pvt. Ltd. which is utilized for providing bank entries against cash to the various entities controlled by present applicant Suraj Chokhani and such bank entries were immediately utilized for share purchase. Various bank transactions have also been detected through various bank account numbers. Thus, the present applicant had assisted Mr. Harishankar Tibrewal in layering the illegal betting funds and handled the funds generating from Sky Exchange and enjoyed the proceeds of crime, which emanated from illegal operation of Mahadev online book and considering the sufficient evidence against the present applicant, he was arrested on 03-03-2024. 6 *******The Learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Raipur has granted remand to the ED for one day, i.e. up to 04.03.2024. On 04.03.2024, when the applicant was produced before the Learned Special Court, (PMLA Cases), Raipur, the ED again sought custody of the applicant for 14 days for further investigation. Despite having objections raised by the applicant, the learned Special Court has again granted the remand to the ED for seven days, i.e. up to 11.03.2024. *******On 11.03.2024, when the applicant was again produced before the learned Special Court, the ED again sought his remand for 7 days, but the application filed by the ED for grant of remand was rejected by the learned Special Court and sent the applicant in judicial custody till 23.02.2024. The applicant had challenged his arrest as well as order dated 03.03.2024 and 04.03.2024 by filing CRMP No. 868 of 2024, which is dismissed vide order dated 04.10.2024. On 23.03.2024, the applicant was not produced before the Special Court (PMLA), yet his remand was extended. *******The order dated 23.03.2024 was also challenged by the applicant by filing another CRMP No. 1239 of 2024, which has also been dismissed vide the order dated 04.10.2024. On 11.03.2024, when the second supplementary complaint was filed by the ED against 03 accused persons, the present applicant was not named as an accused in the said supplementary complaint and his name appears in the third supplementary complaint filed on 30.04.2024 by the ED against 07 individuals and 16 companies, including the present applicant. 7 *******Since the applicant is arrested on 03.03.2024, in the offence, he filed his application for grant of bail under Section 439 of CRPC before the learned Special Court (PMLA) Raipur, which has been dismissed vide order dated 18.10.2024. Therefore, the present bail application has been filed. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant would submit that there is no evidence in the complaint about involvement of the applicant in the offence of money laundering, even there is no link in between the present applicant as well as Mahadev online book and skyexchange.com. The manner in which the applicant is arrested clearly shows the predetermination of the ED to implicate the present applicant in the offence. The counsel for the applicant would further submit that in the first ECIR, the applicant has not been named and has not been arrayed as an accused. Even in the first supplementary prosecution complaint filed on 01.01.2024, the present applicant was not arrayed as an accused. On 28.02.2024, at about 6:50 AM, the search and seizure proceedings were conducted in the residential premises of the applicant at Kolkata and he was arrested on 28.02.2024 itself. The search and seizure proceedings were continued up to 4:50 AM on 29.02.2024 and his movement was restricted by the ED. The manner in which the search and seizure proceedings were conducted, the applicant was taken to Raipur and he was kept in a hotel by the ED and then from 01.03.2024 to 03.03.2024, he was repeatedly taken to ED office from his hotel and interrogated by the officers multiple times and he was under control of the ED officers, but have not produced before the Magistrate 8 within the competent jurisdiction under the prescribed period. The objection raised by the applicant have not been considered by the learned Special Court and granted remand on 03.03.2024 and 04.03.2024. He would further submit that ED cannot proceed with the pick and choose method in arraying the applicant as accused in the present case. Without there being any sufficient material against the applicant, he was arrested which is mala fide. The money laundering act came into play only when a scheduled offence is committed. Running the Mahadev online book app is not a scheduled offence which has been admitted by the ED in its reply that Mahadev online book app is not illegal and scheduled offence. There has to be a criminal activity that is connected with the scheduled offence and if any person generates some money which will come under the definition of proceeds of crime which is defined under section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA-2002, therefore, the sine qua non is the existence of scheduled offence and the existence of proceeds of crime generated from the scheduled offence. The ED unilaterally stated that it is cheating and illegal. *******He would further submit that the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 929 has held that the foundational facts to establish money laundering criminal activity related to scheduled offence has been committed, property in question has been derived or obtained directly or indirectly, by any person as a result of criminal activity and the person connected is directly or indirectly involved in a process or activity connected with the said property being proceeds of crime. It 9 is also submitted by him that the applicant cooperates at every stage of the investigation and appears before the ED on multiple occasions as and when he was required for investigation. There is reasonable ground to believe that the applicant is not guilty of such an offence of money laundering. The applicant is a well-reputed individual with having good reputation in the society and community. He does not have any criminal antecedent. The applicant is the sole breadwinner of his family and has to take care of his wife. The applicant is languishing in jail since 03.03.2024 and commencement and conclusion of the trial will take its own time as the number of accused persons are still not arrested. The applicant is to abide by all the conditions which may be imposed by the Hon’ble Court, while granting bail to him with the undertaking that he will not tamper with any evidence or to influence any witness of the case. The investigation against the present applicant has been concluded and complaint has already been filed on 03.04.2024 before the learned Special Court. The applicant is ready to deposit his passport and to comply any other condition imposed by this Court. He would further submit that the similarly situated co-accused Sunil Dammani has been granted bail by the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide order dated 03.10.2024 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 4108 of 2024 on the grounds that said applicant being a Hawala operator assisted the other accused persons in transferring the proceeds of crime and further taking note of the fact that the prosecution intends to examine almost 98 witnesses and further that the investigation against the said accused Sunil Dammani is complete and complaint has also been filed, he was released on bail. The case of the present applicant 10 is not different than the case of Sunil Dammani. Another co-accused Bheem Singh Yadav have also granted bail by Hon’ble Supreme Court by order dated 25.10.2024 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 4407 of 2024 considering the role ascribed to the accused Bheem Singh Yadav as well as Sunil Dammani and that the co-accused Sunil Dammani has been granted bail vide its order dated 03.10.2024 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 4108 of 2024, the co-accused Bheem Singh Yadav was also granted bail by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. He would also submit that another co-accused Anil Dammani was also granted bail by co-ordinate bench of this Court vide order dated 23.10.2024, passed in MCRC No. 7054 of 2024 as his case was also similar to the case of Sunil Dammani. He would further submit that in the case of the present applicant also, there are 98 witnesses are to be examined and till date even the charges have not been framed and the investigation against the other accused persons are still continuing and there is every possibility of delay in trial of the case. Therefore, the applicant is also entitled for the same benefit as the co-accused persons have been granted and he may also be released on bail. 4. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the respondent/ED, apart from the reply in writing, submits that an ECIR bearing No. RPZO/10/2022 is recorded against Mahadev online book to investigate the matter under the PMLA-2002 on the basis of charge sheet No. 157 of 2022 dated 29.07.2022 filed by Police Station Mohannagar, District Durg against Alok Singh Rajput, Ram Pravesh Sahu, Kharag @ Raja Singh and others for the offence under 11 Sections 120-B and 420 of IPC alleging in it that the accused persons are involved in online betting in live Ludo, Football, Casino games and Amass through Mahadev book. On being secret information, the raid was conducted and aforesaid accused persons were taken into custody who had prepared a set up with laptops by which they collected money by creating an online ID and then the said money was put in bet for others through Mahadev online book on online cricket match, horse racing, greyhound racing and kabaddi etc. Various laptops, mobile phones, passbooks of various banks, debit/credit cards, sim cards, checkbooks and cash were seized from the premises and the investigation under the PMLA-2002 was undertaken after recording of the ECIR. During the course of investigation, it comes into knowledge that various FIRs have also been registered all over the country for illegal online betting through Mahadev book and one of the FIRs of crime No. 206 of 2023 dated 02.06.2023 was registered by Andhra Pradesh Police at P.S. Cybercrime, Vishakhapatnam Commissionerate for the offence under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120 read with section 34 of IPC, Sections 66-C, 66-D of Information Technology Act 2000, and Sectiond 3 and 4 of Andhra Pradesh Gambling Act. *******He would further submit that the Andhra Pradesh Police has further come to the knowledge that 21 persons were running call centres for the operation of the Mahadev App. and they were collecting money from punters who intended to put bets and deposited the money in bank accounts shared through WhatsApp groups. Those persons put their bets on websites like Tiger 12 Exchange, Gold 365, Lesser 247, Cricket Buzz.com, and Play 247.win, Sky Exchange.com and Cricket Bet Nine.com. The money made from the said app was transferred to different bank accounts till it was siphoned to a person named Sourabh Chandrakar who lives in Dubai. The Govt. has blocked the illegal betting website Mahadev Book. It also comes into knowledge that Sourabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal, Kapil Chelani and Satish Kumar who are also residing in Dubai, are known to operate close to 60 illegal offshore gambling websites such as Lotus 365, Fair Play, Reddy Anna, Lesser Book, Tiger Exchange, Bad book 247 and Gold 365. Several cases relating to fraud and illegal activities have been registered against Sourabh Chandrakar. Various FIRs have been registered against various individuals for being involved in illegal betting operations through the Mahadev book app and those FIRs are at P.S. Gudhiyari, Raipur, P.S. Bhilai Bhatthi, District Durg, P.S. Khamtarai, Raipur etc. The FIR of Crime No.6/2024 registered by EOW, Raipur C.G. for the offence under Section 120B, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 34 of the IPC and Section 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended on 2018) registered against Sourabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal, Shubham Soni, Harishankar Tibrewal and others for being involved in betting operations through Mahadev Online book, Sky Exchange and other betting apps. The FIR No.206/2020 registered in the Burtola P.S., Kolkata, West Bengal for the offence under Section 120B and 420 of the IPC and Section 3 and 4 of the West Bengal Price and Cheat Company Act has also been registered against Harishankar Tibrewal, Suraj Chokhani and others for being engaged in online betting. 13 *******He would further submit that Mahadev’s online book provides an online platform for illegal betting in different live games like cricket, badminton, tennis, football etc. and also provides facilities for playing a number of card games like teen patti, poker, dragon tiger, virtual cricket game etc. *******To create an appearance of genuineness for this illegal betting racket Mahadev Online Book the promoters have a company registered in the name M/s. Mahadev Book Market Limited in the country of Sent Vincent and the Grenadines under the directorship in the name of Shubham Soni who is part of top management of Mahadev Online book. Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal are the main promoters and beneficiary owners of this betting syndicate. The Mahadev online book operates from abroad and provides WhatsApp contact numbers on the websites. Once a user contacts the number, he will be provided two separate contact numbers. One contact number is to be utilized for depositing money and collecting points in IDs and the second number is for contacting the website to encash points accumulated in the designated IDs. The IDs are generally created on multiple websites depending on the needs and preferences of the betters. The betting app is operated by various panels/branches which are sold by the promoters and they keep 70- 75% of the profit of the panel operations. A panel has an owner and workers normally four in number. One person can own multiple panels. The office of promoters in Dubai is commonly known as the head office by the panel owners and the said panel owners can create user profiles of players/punters. The panel operators are 14 allotted fixed credits which can be transferred to any player/punter and credits are allocated designated bank accounts. The players/punters who want to play online betting through Mahadev Book via WhatsApp number given on the website of Mahadev Book then head office refers these players/punters to the panel. After receiving the details of the panel the players/punters deposit a minimum amount of Rs.100/- with no maximum amount for online betting. The panel owners receive the funds from customers into benami bank accounts which are arranged by the panel owners. These bank accounts are either opened fraudulently or loaned for commission. Thousands of employees are working in the call centre in Dubai which operates multiple WhatsApp groups for each panel. Weekly account sheets are shared with the panel owners by head office which contain statements of all bets, total profit or total loss. The panel owners are supposed to remit the shares of the Mahadev head office via hawala routs on a regular basis. *******During the course of the investigation, the bank account statements of various bank accounts gathered through intelligence were called for. After analysing the said bank accounts trends of funds have led ED to the doorstep of multiple entities that either remit money outside India or withdraw it as cash. It is suspected that thousands of crores of illegal betting proceeds which are nothing but proceeds of crime have been remitted outside India. The promoters of the Mahadev online book have also set up mini-companies in Dubai to route money and also to facilitate Visa services to the staff of the Mahadev online book working there. It was also found that one 15 Harishankar Tibrewal, who hails from Kolkata and currently residing in Dubai is the partner of promoters of Mahadev Online Book on being search of his premises in Kolkata, it was found that Harishankar Dibrewal owned and operated one of the illegal betting website i.e. Sky Exchange. *******The present applicant Suraj Chokhani was knowingly engaged in operations of the various companies for layering of the proceeds of crime with the collaborations of Mr. Sourabh Chandrakar and Mr. Harishankar Tibrewal who were running the Sky Exchange betting website. The present applicant had full knowledge of the origin of the proceeds of crime and yet he participated in money laundering. From the statement of Amit Saraogi recorded under Section 50 of PMLA- 2002, the role of the present applicant Suraj Chokhani is described and certain bank transactions through various bank accounts have also been detected which were managed by the present applicant Suraj Chokhani and he actively assisted Harishankar Tibrewal in layering the illegal betting funds, which emanated from the illegal operation of Mahadev online book. There is ample evidence available in the complaint that the present applicant is having connection with the other accused persons and he actively participated in layering the proceeds of crime by investing the same in the Indian companies and share market. He would further submit that all the key persons involved in the scam are relocated to the UAE. There is every chance of the applicant seeking to defeat the process of law in India. There is every possibility of tampering with the witnesses and evidence of the case. Further, rely upon the judgement passed by Hon’ble Supreme 16 Court in Gurwinder Singh v. State of Punjab, order dated 07.02.2024, passed in Criminal Appeal No. 704 of 2024 submitted that the trial proceeding of the case will take time that itself cannot be a ground to grant bail. There is sufficient evidence against the present applicant which prima facie establishes his involvement in the offence in question and in view of the nature of the offence, the applicant is not entitled for bail. He would further submit that the case of Sunil Dammani and Anil Dammani and also Bheem Singh Yadav are different than the case of the present applicant. The allegations against Sunil Dammani and Anil Dammani are that they were the Hawala operators through whom the proceeds of crime was transferred to other accused persons and the co-accused Bheem Singh Yadav, who was the constable in the Chhattisgarh Police was the person, who is also engaged in transferring the proceeds of crime and its disbursement, whereas, the allegations against the present applicant are that he was knowingly associated with Harishankar Tibrewal, Sourabh Chandrakar and also engaged in sky exchange betting website. He was also actively engaged in money laundering by investing the proceeds of crime in various companies by showing that he is the shareholder of those companies with the association of Harishankar Tibrewal. The Hon'ble Supreme Court while granting bail to the co-accused persons Sunil Dammani and Bheem Singh Yadav and the coordinated bench of this Court while granting bail to Anil Dammani have considered their role in the offence in question as well as the likelihood of delay in trial. The role of the present applicant in the offence in question clearly demonstrate that he actively involved in money laundering and there is sufficient reason to 17 believe that he is guilty of the said offence. Therefore, no benefit of parity can be granted to the present applicant on the ground that the other co-accused persons have been granted bail either by Hon'ble Supreme Court or by the coordinated bench of this Court and his bail application is liable to be dismissed. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 6. For consideration of the bail application under PMLA, 2002 the Court need not go deep inside the merits of the case but should consider the prima facie material against the accused in the case. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary case (supra) has observed in para 401 of its judgment that:- “401. We are in agreement with the observation made by the Court in Ranjitsing Brahmajeetsing Sharma [(2005) 5 SCC 294]. The Court while dealing with the application for grant of bail need not delve deep into the merits of the case and only a view of the Court based on available material on record is required. The Court will not weigh the evidence to find the guilt of the accused which is, of course, the work of Trial Court. The Court is only required to place its view based on probability on the basis of reasonable material collected during the investigation and the said view will not be taken into consideration by the Trial Court in recording its finding of the guilt or acquittal during trial which is based on the evidence adduced during the trial. As explained by this Court in Nimmagadda Prasad [(2013) 7 SCC 466], the words used in Section 45 of the 2002 Act are "reasonable grounds for believing" which means the Court has to see only if there is a genuine case against the 18 accused and the prosecution is not required to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt.” 7. In the case of Satish Jaggi Vs. State of Chhattisgarh, (2007) 11 SCC 195, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that “at the stage of granting of bail, the Court can only go into the question of prima facie case established for granting bail, it cannot go into the question of credibility and reliability of witnesses put up by the prosecution. The question of credibility and reliability of prosecution witnesses can only be tested during trial.” 8. The Delhi High Court in its order dated 07-03-2024 passed in Bail Application No. 3807/2022 (Sanjay Jain Vs. Enforcement Directorate) after relying upon the observations made in the case of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (Supra) has observed in para 49 that:- “49. It thus, emerges that at the stage of considering a bail application under the PMLA, the Court has to bear in mind the following aspects: i. Wether the accused possessed the requisite mens rea. ii. The words used in Section 45 of the 2002 Act are “reasonable grounds for believing” which means the Court has to see only if there is a genuine case against the accused and the prosecution is not required to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt. iii. A positive finding that the accused had not committed an offence under the Act is not required to be recorded. A delicate balance between a judgment of acquittal/conviction and an order granting bail much before commencement of the trial is to be maintained. 19 iv. The evidence is not to be weighed meticulously but a finding is to be arrived at on the basis of broad probabilities with reference to the material collected during investigation. The weighing of evidence to find the guilt of the accused is the work of Trial Court. v. A finding is also required to be recorded as to the possibility of the bail applicant committing a crime after grant of bail. This aspect has to be considered having regard to the antecedents of the accused, his propensities and the nature and manner in which he is alleged to have committed the offence.” 9. From the statement of Mr. Amit Saraogi, it appears that on the instance of the present applicant certain amounts have been transferred to Ability Games Limited from Pearl Dealers Pvt. Ltd. The said transfer of the amount was made on the instance of Hari Tibrewal. It also reveals from the statement of Amit Saraogi that on the instance of present applicant, the entries for about Rs. 30-40 crores was made in the various companies of the present applicant from the Pearl Dealers Pvt. Ltd. against cash provided to him. From his statement his connection with other accused persons are also clearly reflects. The present applicant had employed many of his associates as Director in various companies which were utilized to launder the proceeds of crime and the inquiries conducted have revealed that the cash has been injected in the various companies of the present applicant either directly or indirectly for investing it in the stock market. Certain bank entries have also been detected, which clearly shows the association of the present applicant with the said companies and he had converted the betting cash to bank entries using services of professional entry operators and thus the present 20 applicant knowingly and willingly associated himself with the money laundering operations of Harishankar Tibrewal, who is one of the accused in the offence. There is sufficient evidence that the present applicant is involved in concealment, layering and use of the proceeds of crime and thus committed the offence of money laundering as defined under Section 3 of PMLA-2002. 10. The proceeds of crime have been defined under Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA, 2002 which reads as under:- “2.(1)(u) “proceeds of crime” means any property derived or obtained, directly or indirectly, by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence or the value of any such property, or where such property is taken or held outside the country, then the property equivalent in value held within the country or abroad; Explanation :- For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that “proceeds of crime” including property not only derived or obtained from the scheduled offence but also any property which may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence.” 11. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Vs. CBI, reported in (2013) 7 SCC 439 has held in para 34 and 35 of its judgment that - “34. Economic offences constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail. The economic offences having deep-rooted conspiracies and involving huge loss of public funds need to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby 21 posing serious threat to the financial health of the country. 35. While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of the public/State and other similar considerations. 12. Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (supra) of has observed in para 398 as under :- “398. Thus, it is well settled by the various decisions of this Court and policy of the State as also the view of international community that the offence of money-laundering is committed by an individual with a deliberate design with the motive to enhance his gains, disregarding the interests of nation and society as a whole and which by no stretch of imagination can be termed as offence of trivial nature. Thus, it is in the interest of the State that law enforcement agencies should be provided with a proportionate effective mechanism so as to deal with these types of offences as the wealth of the nation is to be safeguarded from these dreaded criminals. As discussed above, the conspiracy of money-laundering, which is a three-staged process, is hatched in secrecy and executed in darkness, thus, it becomes imperative for the State to frame such a stringent law, which not only punishes the offender proportionately, but also helps in preventing the offence and creating a deterrent effect.” 13. Having considered the rival submissions made by the respective parties and also from the material produced in the present case, it is not acceptable that the present applicant did not know about the transactions in either various investments in shell companies with the association of Harishankar Tibrewal, who was co-owner of the Sky Exchange betting website and invested the proceeds of crime in a stock market through the various shell companies. Denial by the 22 accused itself is not sufficient to consider that there is no mens rea of the applicant for the said offence under the PMLA-2002. Although the statement recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA-2002 is required to be tested at the time of trial, for the purpose of consideration of bail application, the statement recorded during investigation can be considered against the applicant. Further, the role of the present applicant in the offence in question is distinguishable from the case of other accused persons, who have been granted bail. 14. As has been discussed hereinabove, it cannot be said that there is no involvement of the applicant in the offence in question. Considering the role of the applicant in the ensuing money laundering case of proceeds of crime in Mahadev Book App, it is found that, there is sufficient evidence collected by the respondent- Enforcement Directorate to prima facie show the involvement of the applicant in the offence of money laundering as defined under Section 3 of the PMLA-2002. It is an organized crime having various facets of its complexion, therefore, further considering the provisions of Section 45 of the PMLA-2002 this Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the applicant is involved in the offence and he is likely to commit any other offence while on bail, I am not inclined to grant bail to the applicant. 15. Consequently, the present bail application filed by the applicant Suraj Chokhani is rejected. Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) Judge ved